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Yanis, this is an excellent interview. It’s a real pleasure listening to you. I’ve shared this interview with the Young Scholars Initiative who will be closely following the upcoming elections. Good luck!

“Greece is in big trouble. They are up against the most powerful foe imaginable.”

Norbert Häring: QE and the nature of the standoff between the ECB and Syriza
18 January 2015

“On Thursday the ECB’s Governing Council will decide on whether to start a large bond buying program. I am afraid the decision is clear, though not for economic reasons. A few days later, the Greek will probably vote for a left leaning government under the Syriza-party, which wants to renegotiate the terms of the huge government debt, and is opposed to the EU-imposed austerity program which impoverished the country. There will be a standoff, a game of chicken, in which Brussels, Frankfort (the ECB) and Berlin threaten to throw Greece out of the euro, causing the people even more suffering, and Athens counting on this being an empty threat, because any country leaving might easily lead to more countries being pushed out by speculative attacks on their bond markets. If the ECB has a free hand to buy as many government bonds as it wants from any government that follows the ECB’s commands and fulfils their conditions, this danger is very significantly reduced. In such a situation, Greece can be forced out if needed (by cutting of ECB financing for Greek banks, which can be done any day at the ECB’s discretion). The experience would be made as harsh as possible to the Greek people to scare of the voters of other crisis countries, who might consider voting for similar parties, like Podemos in Spain.”

“While Germany and Greece are both part of the European Union, they do not and will not share a common fate. If they do not share a common fate, then what exactly is the purpose of the European Union? It was never supposed to be about “the pursuit of happiness,” but instead about “peace and prosperity.” The promise is the not right to pursue, but the right to have. That is a huge difference.”

…… In the European Central Bank’s compromise with Germany, we can see not only the base of sand dissolving but also the brotherhood of Europe falling apart. At the heart of this promise is the idea that Germany will not share the fate of Greece, nor France the fate of Italy. In the end, these are different nations. Their customs can be overcome by the joy uniting them in brotherhood, but absent that joy, absent peace and prosperity, there is nothing binding them together.”

Read more: The European Union, Nationalism and the Crisis of Europe | Stratfor
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SYRIZA and its supporters are in big trouble because they are up against the most powerful foe imaginable…Well that reminds me of that wonderful ancient tale – {David Vs Goliath} – irrespective of the election result the struggle between the forces of misanthropy & humanitarianism will continue – Best of Luck Mr Varoufakis

Yanis I have not ask a direct question before, but I will now. Not to be to blunt but is not the whole system truly Greece as Millhouse put it(“We are are all ..fill in the blank.. now)? Can any country(the people) at all retire the debt ever, as things are. Shouldn’t every country(the people) be saying NO as you are proposing for Greece. The system of Debt just feeds on itself obviously(Minotaur metaphor), everyone sees this through the lens of their own bias(justification for their own program), but realistically mustn’t we all say no more(as I’ve seen it put)”perpetual debt slavery” in return for destruction of humanities Soul?

US

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